If I was going to write a post about all things that are sweet and sour I think that blackberry vodka may well fit the bill.

While walking Pepper the other day I saw that the hedgerows were filled with ripe, juicy, jewel like blackberries. Hundreds of them. They looked amazing. So yummy. I could make any number of things, but of course my mind went straight to the vodka that was laying in the wine rack feeling a bit sorry for itself as September officially became The Month We Weren’t Drinking. (Yup, another story entirely.) Rather than going straight out to gather the bounty nature offered, I decided to procrastinate for a week. Then the weather started to turn and I was left with no more excuses. It was actually really nice, there had been a particularly miserable rainstorm during the day but the sun was out, the air was fresh and I had tupperware and a boy willing to go blackberry hunting with me. We were off!

After collecting as many berries as we could before the sun set (autumn is drawing in, ahhhhh….sad to see summer go but excited about curling up on the sofa again) it was a fairly straightforward plan. A slight surplus of vodka following an August bank holiday party meant we had a few options and we settled on three separate recipes:

Bottle 1 – Sweet Vanilla Blackberry Vodka

300g blackberries

300g sugar

500ml ‘student’ vodka

1 vanilla pod

Bottle 2 – Fancy Vanilla Blackberry Vodka

300g blackberries

200g sugar

500ml ‘grown up’ vodka

1 vanilla pod

Bottle 3 – Grown Up Blackberry Vodka

300g blackberries

200g sugar

500ml ‘grown up’ vodka

All ingredients were put into their separate kilner jars. They looked really pretty.

And then we shook them like the proverbial polaroid picture.

Now they look dark and juicy and …. okay, a little sugary. But a bit more agitation over the next few weeks will hopefully do wonders and there will be a tasting session to see which recipe is the winner…once the Month of No Drinking has passed by and it’s well into curling up on the sofa season. Ahh, Autumn, you’re pretty cool!